For years, Erin Cummings had found success as a working actress, appearing in television series like Mad Men. In 2010, though, her career took a dramatic leap when she landed her first regular role in a network show, playing a medical examiner in the police procedural Detroit 1-8-7. It didn’t take her long to fall in love with the often-troubled namesake city where the series was filmed.

As a child, Rosie Arbittier, participated in walkathons sponsored by her local synagogue and placed flags on soldiers’ graves on Veterans Day. That spirit of volunteerism continued into her teens, when she started tutoring special needs students at her middle school in York, Pennsylvania.

When Julian Martinez-Prado’s parents immigrated to the United States from Argentina, they envisioned a better life for themselves and their children. It’s safe to say, though, that they never dreamed their son would wind up racing yachts in regattas.

When she was young, Keariene Muizz and her family were constantly on the move — she attended 12 schools before leaving her teens. Role models were few and far between, and at one point she ended up in foster care. But years later, despite her rocky start, Muizz found herself studying at the prestigious Sorbonne University in Paris.